This morning Gracen asked to help me cut out some new activity cards for her weekly calendar, but was quickly becoming frustrated. Her toddler scissors (the ones that pop back open between each snip) just were not getting the job done and she was ripping the paper more than she was cutting it. It was then that she said very matter-of-factly, “Mama, I need BIG, SHARP scissors. I’m big enough now.” With that, my pink poodle hopped off the couch, helped herself to a new pair of scissors from my desk drawer, and began cutting like it was her job. My baby is growing up.

♥

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I’m well aware that many people may think I’m crazy, but recently, I’ve been helping Gracen learn how to safely use sharp knives while cooking. She’s been helping in the kitchen since shortly after her first birthday, and is becoming an expert pourer, mixer, peeler, and grater, so this felt like a natural next step. I fully subscribe to the notion that children, even wee ones, are very capable little human beings… More so than we often give them credit for. So, given her kitchen experience, her ability to follow instructions, and her generally cautious nature, I felt like she was ready. Plus, I sort of feel that being handed a cucumber to cut and a butter knife to do the job must feel a little insulting.

Wouldn’t you trust this innocent little face? ☺

When she’s practicing her cutting skills, I like to give Grae my favourite tomato knife. It’s quite sharp, but it doesn’t have a pointed tip and it doesn’t seem to easily puncture the skin – perhaps because it’s serrated? I also make sure to give her soft foods that have at least one flat side (no rolling) and are long and thinnish (more space for holding).

So far, we’ve been focusing on holding the food at the far end and really being aware of where the knife is in relation to her little fingers.

This morning, while we were at the grocery store, I let Grae pick out what she wanted to cut. First on her list was cantaloupe.

She also selected a dragon fruit and a couple of kiwi fruits…

Perfect for a fruit salad! Overall, she’s doing really well with it. I still always stay close to her and monitor her chopping carefully, and I did ask her to slow down a little bit today, but for the most part, she can safely use a sharp knife on her own.

The best part is how proud she is of herself. Chopping up all the fruit for a big bowl of fruit salad while using a sharp knife = official big girl status.

♥

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Though Gracen’s crib could have been converted to a toddler bed, we opted to rearrange her room a little and make space for a large floor bed. Not only does it give her lots space to spread out while sleeping {and minimizes falls out of the bed}, but it also allows for family snuggles, awesome story reading sessions, and provides a new play space too. Tea anyone?

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One of the little traditions we started when Gracen was born was the celebration of her half birthday. Because well, why not really? That extra ‘half’ is a big deal when your age is still in the single digits. It’s nothing fancy… Just a fun day with “cupcakes” after dinner. This year was extra special as it fell on a weekend which meant Papa got to join in on the fun.

It started with Miss G waking up to a doorway full of balloons, ended with chocolate coconut banana muffins topped with freshly whipped cream and candles, and had muffin making, playing in the rain, an awesome presentation of The Cat in the Hat, and a sushi dinner sprinkled throughout the middle.

Oh, and there was this… A bath filled with bubbles, balloons, and a shrieky jumpy excited girl.

Happy half birthday, my love.

♥

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Gracen’s been interested in letters, their names, their sounds, and words that begin with them for quite some time now. She’s also known how to verbally spell her name for just as long (longer actually), but the two had never really come together. While she’s asked me to print her name quite a lot, she’s never attempted to ‘make’ her name using her foam bathtub letters, her letter magnets, or any of the other alphabet manipulatives we have around the house.

Until tonight that is…

This evening she came to me as I was preparing dinner and said, “Mama, come see!” I went into her room to find that she’d climbed up onto her shelf, retrieved her baby blocks, and was carefully arranging them in order to spell her name.

Smart little cookie.

♥

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This afternoon Miss G made a little congratulations card for her sweet playmate Ainsley, who became a big sister 11 days ago. She decided she wanted to draw Ainsley and her new brother on the inside of the card, which was a big undertaking seeing as she’s only ever really drawn circles, triangles, squares, and happy faces. When she asked for help, I walked her through the parts we needed to add to her start of two smiley faces (“Okay, now what does Ainsley have on her head?”, “What about feet? Should we add some?”, etc.) and this is what she created.

Pretty brilliant for a first real drawing, I’d say. ☺

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